6. I will make Judah’s family strong. I will help Joseph’s family win the war. I will bring them back safely and comfort them. It will be as if I never left them. I am the Lord their God, and I will help them.
7. The people of Ephraim will be as happy as soldiers who have too much to drink. Their children will be rejoicing and they, too, will be happy. They will all have a happy time together with the Lord.
8. “I will whistle for them and call them all together. I really will save them. There will be many people.
9. Yes, I have been scattering my people throughout the nations. But in those faraway places, they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will come back.
10. I will bring them back from Egypt and Assyria. I will bring them to the area of Gilead. And since there will not be enough room, I will also let them live in nearby Lebanon.
11. They will go through a sea of troubles, but the waves will be stopped. Even the deepest waters of the Nile River will dry up. I will destroy Assyria’s pride and take away Egypt’s power.
12. I, the Lord, will make my people strong, and they will live for me.” This is what the Lord said.